I’ve been wondering why my allergies have been getting worse lately, and I seem to have more breathing trouble than I used to. Then I heard an interview on CBC with a doctor who’s an expert on respiratory problems. He was talking about the zillions of kinds of mould and fungus that can grow inside pillows and cause health issues for people who lie on them. That got me thinking about my own pillows. I change sheets regularly, but it doesn’t matter if the stuff is actually inside the pillows. Furthermore, this guy was saying that so-called hypo-allergenic pillows harbour a significantly greater number of allergenic particles for some reason. It’s something like 100X more than natural feather pillows. My pillows are hypo-allergenic. So, I got out the vacuum cleaner and gave all of my bedding a good cleaning with it. The next morning, I woke up with no breathing trouble at all. I was definitely on to something. I know it’s not possible to get rid of all the junk living inside of a pillow, but if I make a habit of cleaning them like this, then maybe I can keep the problem under control. I also vacuumed the couch, blankets and padded chairs.
On a related note, I haven’t been using the fan blower on the heating/air conditioning unit because it makes a bloody loud whooshing noise whenever it’s on. I discovered yesterday that that’s because the filters I was using were letting too much air through, so I was hearing the sound of rapid air movement through the ductwork. I replaced the fibre filter with a more sturdy corrugated paper one and the noise is much more tolerable. Probably the air is cleaner too.
Finally, I got fed up with the drafty window above my bed. During the winter, my head would freeze all night, and I’m sure that’s not good. The stupid window crank is broken and doesn’t let me close the window properly, and for some reason the window frame isn’t flat, so there’s a gap in the bottom left corner that lets in a really chilly breeze whenever the wind blows against the building. Today I bought some adhesive neoprene weather stripping and plugged up the gaps. I’m looking forward to going to sleep now! 😛
Awesome, now you’ll be able to sleep and breathe better, meaning you can do more because you are feeling better! hehe.
Sounds like you got a visit from Bob Villa =P
The finnish way to get rid of all nasties is to put your bedding outside for a couple of hours when the temperature drops to below freezing. That kills most germs.
😀 so much usefulness 😀 its funny how things we KNOW we should do, when we finaly do them we go “omfg” *giggle* wow that was a very intelligent sentence. i had the same thing hapen to me this week. i finaly bought multivitamins and started taking them and suddenly i have so much more energy and need so much less sleep. 😀 just like magic
May be this information will help you as well:
Spring Cleaning Tips from your neighborhood Indoor Air Quality Consultant…
Spring is almost here and it’s time to enjoy our wonderful outdoors. Now is the time to do the things we should to help maintain a healthy environment…among our normal house cleaning routine we should do several things at least twice a year to make sure we keep allergens such as mold, pollen, dander and bacteria to a minimum.
Our HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) system is one of the most important things to keep our air clean and fresh inside. Maintenance is a must. Depending on what type of air filter you have, you should change the filter according to the manufacturer recommendations. Filters may need to be changed once a month to every three months. Some filters can be washed (electrostatic) but remember before installing them back into your HVAC system they should be thoroughly dried (this will help prevent mold from growing).
The HVAC system should be inspected twice a year – once in the spring when we get ready to turn on the a/c and once in the winter when we turn on the heat. Your heating and air conditioning company needs to make sure the coils, drains and drip pan are clean! Free from MOLD. You would not believe how many homes I inspect that even though homeowners have their units inspected regularly the HVAC company does not mention the fact that mold is growing on or around the air handler. This should not happen if your system is functioning properly.
Your ductwork system should be inspected if you see dust around the air vents. This may be caused from not changing your air filters regularly or it could be from the ductwork system. Older ductwork may have tape that gets loose around the exterior of the ductwork and allow air to be sucked in from the attic. This is not a good thing since it can cause condensation inside the ductwork causing mold and bacteria to grow. When this happens those contaminates can and will spread throughout your home causing allergies or other respiratory problems.
Our great outdoors is protected by Mother Nature and she knows how to keep things in balance. We must try to learn from her how to keep our indoors clean and balanced to make our environments healthy for us to live in. Using harsh chemicals and cleaning products should be used rarely. Chlorine produces off gasses that can harm our lungs. So when you do your regular Spring cleaning think of using “green” or natural products that can do the same thing as the more toxic chemicals.
If anyone is interested in a consultation or testing their environment, please do not hesitate to contact A Quality Indoor Environment, LLC at 727-521-0304 or visit our website at http://www.qualityindoor.com. Barbara Frese is a certified IAQ Consultant and we specialize in “Providing Healthy Solutions for your Environment”.